Abstract #1043

Pharmacological MRI and Tensor-Based Morphometry in the 6-OHDA Rat Model of Parkinsons Disease

Robert Westphal¹, Camilla Simmons¹, Michel B. Mesquita¹, Tobias C. Wood¹, William R. Crum¹, Denise Duricki¹, Anthony Vernon², Steve C.R. Williams¹, Diana Cash¹

¹Neuroimaging, King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, London, United Kingdom; ²Psychosis Studies, King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, London, United Kingdom

Animal models such as 6-OHDA lesioning in rats are crucial for our understanding of Parkinsons disease and serve as an ideal test-bed for therapeutic interventions. In an attempt to further characterize the 6-OHDA rat, we employed pharmacological MRI and structural MRI, revealing new features such as thalamic & cortical functional impairments and structural changes in the brain stem and the frontal cortex. These results give new insights into the mechanisms of pathology in this model, which may broaden its application for novel therapeutic treatments.